Page 30 of August Kind of Love

“Follow me.”

I introduced Emily to Marcie, and the two seemed to hit it off. I had the feeling that they had some secret sign that passed all the information both needed—Mom was leaving the house. Had I had more time, I might have laid down some guidelines, AKA laws. But, I was needed at the bank. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I kissed Emily on the forehead.

“Marcie is the babysitter,” I told Emily. “Do what she says, and maybe she’ll feed you some ice cream later.”

“I can do that.” Marcie winked at Emily, who grinned.

I knew I had opened a huge rift in the mom’s wall of righteousness, but I didn’t have much choice. I needed to reclaim my job.

My staff and everyone in the office were surprised when I walked through the cubicles and past the offices. None was more surprised than Josh when I stepped into his office.

“Been having fun?” I asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been working my tail off.”

He sounded brave, but I noticed the fear on his face, the narrowing of his eyes. Like a rat, he was looking for the nearest hole to disappear into.

“I’ve talked to the IT folks, and they’ve started going through the computer logs to see who caused all the system glitches. So far, you’re the big winner.”

I was lying, but Josh didn’t know that.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, but you do, Josh. You probably didn’t realize how redundant the system is. No matter how many times you delete the commands, there is a long record. As soon as I march into Doak’s office with the printout, you’re toast. If I were you, I’d start packing up personal items.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Try me.” I turned for the door and then turned back dramatically.“No, I don’t think you should wait, Josh. Leave, now. No packing up. Just grab your coat and head for your car. You’re done here. Don’t come back because security won’t allow you to pass.”

He stared at me as if daring me to do something more.

“Don’t make me call security,” I said. “You have the chance to maintain some dignity by walking yourself out.”

He grabbed his coat off the rack in the corner and sneered at me.

“You won’t get away with this,” he hissed. “When you’re fired, I’ll own your office. Know what? I’ll get rid of everything there because you touched it. You’re not worthy of the job. When I’m done, no one here will remember your name.”

He marched past, and I held my breath. I also held back my anger. I wanted to punch his smug face. I wanted to strip off that coat and make him crawl through the cold parking lot. I was angry, more angry than I should have been. I watched him until he left the area. Then, I practically ran to my office. I needed to reach the computer jockeys as quickly as possible. I didn’t have much time.

Rather than bring the techies to my office, I went to them. They occupied the basement, not far from the servers that handled much of the bank’s transactions. They brought their tablets to the conference room they used, and I started going through the list of mistakes. Their boss, an older man with thick glasses, assigned the young men and women to the problems as they were listed. They didn’t ask many questions. They started making changes and reversing the changes that had caused the trouble. That was when their leader led me out of the room.

“They’ll be a little while,” the man said. “I keep a very nice coffee machine in my office. We’ll wait there.”

“How long?” I asked.

“Not as long as you probably anticipated, but longer than you would wish. Backing out the faulty commands and restoring the original configuration is not automatic.”

“Will the people affected know when the work is finished?”

“They’ll get an email specifying what was changed and how to reach you if there is another issue.”

“Not going to take credit?”

“I prefer they go through HR. Paper trail.”

“No one uses paper anymore.”

“Doesn’t matter. Everyone understands the term.”

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